Management method and apparatus for supporting multiple sim cards to share rf processor

ABSTRACT

A management method and apparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processor. The method includes: after receiving a resource request sent by a first baseband communications processor, determining whether the RF processor is authorized be used by a second baseband communications processor in at least a part of a time period required for using the RF processor by the first baseband communications processor; if yes, comparing whether a priority of a type of a first communications service that needs to be performed by the first baseband communications processor is higher than a priority of a type of a second communications service performed by the second baseband communications processor; and if yes, sending an authorization message to the first baseband communications processor and instructing the second baseband communications processor to stop performing the second communications service.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2016/083020, filed on May 23, 2016, which claims priority toChinese Patent Application No. 201510598490.4, filed on Sep. 18, 2015,both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communicationstechnologies, and specifically, to a management method and apparatus forsupporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processor.

BACKGROUND

A dual card dual standby terminal refers to a terminal that is providedwith a dual SIM slot and that can support two subscriber identity module(SIM) cards or two universal subscriber identity module (USIM) cards tobe in standby and to perform a voice or data service in two networkstandards. Currently, to effectively reduce power consumption,production costs, and an area of an internal chip of the dual card dualstandby terminal, a radio frequency (RF) channel sharing solution, thatis, two cards sharing one RF processor, is proposed, for example, a G(GSM, Global System for Mobile Communications)+G mode RF channel sharingsolution or a W (WCDMA, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access)+G modeRF channel sharing solution.

A principle of a current RF channel sharing solution is: When there is acommunications service on one card, a baseband communications processorof the card applies to a transceiver resource management (TRM) modulefor a permission to use an RF processor and notifies the TRM module of atime period for using the RF processor. If a baseband communicationsprocessor of the other card is not authorized to use the RF processor inthe time period, the TRM module authorizes the baseband communicationsprocessor of the card, on which there is the communications service, touse the RF processor to perform the communications service in the timeperiod. On the contrary, if the baseband communications processor of theother card is authorized to use the RF processor in a part or the entireof the time period, the TRM module notifies the card, on which there isa communications service, of a failure in applying for the permission touse the RF processor. That is, only when the RF processor is in an idlestate, the permission to use the RF processor can be authorized toprocess a new communications service. It can be learned that the currentRF channel sharing solution has a problem of improper allocation of apermission to use an RF processor.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention disclose a management method andapparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an radio frequency(RF) processor, so as to properly allocate a permission to use an RFprocessor according to a priority of a type of a communications service.

A first aspect of the embodiments of the present invention discloses amanagement method for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RFprocessor, where the method includes:

receiving a resource request sent by a first baseband communicationsprocessor, where the first baseband communications processor isconfigured to implement a first communications service on a first SIMcard, the resource request is used to request, in response to the firstcommunications service, a permission to use the RF processor, and theresource request includes a type of the first communications service anda time period required for using the RF processor;

determining whether the RF processor is authorized to perform a secondcommunications service on a second SIM card for a second basebandcommunications processor in at least a part of the time period;

when the RF processor is authorized to perform the second communicationsservice for the second baseband communications processor in at least thepart of the time period, comparing whether a priority of the type of thefirst communications service is higher than a priority of a type of thesecond communications service; and

when the priority of the type of the first communications service ishigher than the priority of the type of the second communicationsservice, sending a first authorization message to the first basebandcommunications processor and instructing the second basebandcommunications processor to stop performing the second communicationsservice, where the first authorization message is used to authorize thefirst baseband communications processor to use the RF processor toperform the first communications service.

In a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect of theembodiments of the present invention, the resource request is sent froma physical layer of the first baseband communications processor.

With reference to the first aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, in a second possible implementation manner of the firstaspect of the embodiments of the present invention, the resource requestis sent from a radio resource control (RRC) layer of the first basebandcommunications processor; and

the sending a first authorization message to the first basebandcommunications processor includes:

sending the first authorization message to a radio control andmanagement RCM module, to enable the RCM module to send the firstauthorization message to the first baseband communications processor.

With reference to the first aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the first possible implementation manner of the first aspectof the embodiments of the present invention, or the second possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, in a third possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, the comparingwhether a priority of the type of the first communications service ishigher than a priority of a type of the second communications serviceincludes:

determining whether the second communications service is pre-emptible;and

when the second communications service is pre-emptible, comparingwhether the priority of the type of the first communications service ishigher than the priority of the type of the second communicationsservice.

With reference to the first aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the first possible implementation manner of the first aspectof the embodiments of the present invention, the second possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, or the third possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, in a fourthpossible implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments ofthe present invention, the method further includes:

when the priority of the type of the first communications service islower than or equal to the priority of the type of the secondcommunications service, sending a resource request failure message tothe first baseband communications processor, where the resource requestfailure message indicates that the first baseband communicationsprocessor is not authorized to use the RF processor to perform the firstcommunications service.

With reference to the first aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the first possible implementation manner of the first aspectof the embodiments of the present invention, the second possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, the third possible implementation manner of the firstaspect of the embodiments of the present invention, or the fourthpossible implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments ofthe present invention, in a fifth possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, after thesending a first authorization message to the first basebandcommunications processor and instructing the second basebandcommunications processor to stop performing the second communicationsservice, the method further includes:

receiving a resource release indication message sent by the firstbaseband communications processor, where the resource release indicationmessage indicates that the permission to use the RF processor has beenreleased by the first baseband communications processor; and

sending a second authorization message to the second basebandcommunications processor according to the resource release indicationmessage, where the second authorization message is used to authorize thesecond baseband communications processor to continue to use the RFprocessor to perform the second communications service.

With reference to the first aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the first possible implementation manner of the first aspectof the embodiments of the present invention, the second possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, the third possible implementation manner of the firstaspect of the embodiments of the present invention, the fourth possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, or the fifth possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, in a sixthpossible implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments ofthe present invention, the resource request further includes apreemption attribute of the first communications service, and thepreemption attribute indicates whether the first communications serviceis pre-emptible.

With reference to the first aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the first possible implementation manner of the first aspectof the embodiments of the present invention, the second possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, the third possible implementation manner of the firstaspect of the embodiments of the present invention, the fourth possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, the fifth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect of the embodiments of the present invention, or the sixthpossible implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments ofthe present invention, in a seventh possible implementation manner ofthe first aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, the firstSIM card supports at least one communications network standard, and thesecond SIM card supports at least one communications network standard.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present invention discloses amanagement apparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RFprocessor, where the apparatus includes the RF processor, a firstbaseband communications processor, a second baseband communicationsprocessor, and a manager, where

the first baseband communications processor is configured to send aresource request to the manager when there is a first communicationsservice that needs to be performed on a first SIM card, where theresource request is used to request, in response to the firstcommunications service, a permission to use the RF processor, and theresource request includes a type of the first communications service anda time period required for using the RF processor;

the second baseband communications processor is configured to implementa second communications service on a second SIM card;

the manager is configured to: receive the resource request; determinewhether the RF processor is authorized for the second basebandcommunications processor to perform the second communications service inat least a part of the time period; when it is determined that the RFprocessor is authorized for the second baseband communications processorto perform the second communications service in at least a part of thetime period, compare whether a priority of the type of the firstcommunications service is higher than a priority of a type of the secondcommunications service; and when the priority of the type of the firstcommunications service is higher than the priority of the type of thesecond communications service, send a first authorization message to thefirst baseband communications processor, couple the first basebandcommunications processor to the RF processor, and instruct the secondbaseband communications processor to stop performing the secondcommunications service, where the first authorization message is used toauthorize the first baseband communications processor to use the RFprocessor to perform the first communications service; and

the RF processor is configured to provide an RF communications link forthe first communications service when the first baseband communicationsprocessor is authorized to use the RF processor.

In a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect of theembodiments of the present invention, the first baseband communicationsprocessor includes an RRC module and a physical layer management module,the resource request is sent by the physical layer management module,and the manager includes an RCM module, where

the RRC module is configured to: implement processing of a radioresource control communications protocol for the first SIM card, andsend, to the physical layer management module when there is the firstcommunications service on the first SIM card, a first notificationmessage used to indicate that there is the first communications serviceon the first SIM card;

the physical layer management module is configured to: implementprocessing of a physical layer communications protocol for the first SIMcard, receive the first notification message, and send the resourcerequest to the RCM module; and

the RCM module is configured to: receive the resource request; determinewhether the RF processor is authorized for the second basebandcommunications processor to perform the second communications service inat least the part of the time period; when the result of thedetermination is yes, compare whether the priority of the type of thefirst communications service is higher than the priority of the type ofthe second communications service; and when the priority of the type ofthe first communications service is higher than the priority of the typeof the second communications service, send the first authorizationmessage to the first baseband communications processor, couple the firstbaseband communications processor to the RF processor, and instruct thesecond baseband communications processor to stop performing the secondcommunications service.

With reference to the second aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, in a second possible implementation manner of the secondaspect of the embodiments of the present invention, the first basebandcommunications processor includes an RRC module and a physical layermanagement module, the resource request is sent by the RRC module, andthe manager includes a radio resource management RRM module and an RCMmodule, where

the RRC module is configured to: implement processing of a radioresource control communications protocol for the first SIM card, andsend the resource request to the RRM module when there is the firstcommunications service on the first SIM card;

the physical layer management module is configured to implementprocessing of a physical layer communications protocol for the first SIMcard;

the RRM module is configured to: receive the resource request; determinewhether the RF processor is authorized for the second basebandcommunications processor to perform the second communications service inat least the part of the time period; when the result of thedetermination is yes, compare whether the priority of the type of thefirst communications service is higher than the priority of the type ofthe second communications service; and when the priority of the type ofthe first communications service is higher than the priority of the typeof the second communications service, send the first authorizationmessage to the RCM module; and

the RCM module is configured to: receive the first authorization messagesent by the RRM module, send the first authorization message to thefirst baseband communications processor, couple the first basebandcommunications processor to the RF processor, and instruct the secondbaseband communications processor to stop performing the secondcommunications service.

With reference to the second aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the first possible implementation manner of the second aspectof the embodiments of the present invention, or the second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, in a third possible implementation manner of thesecond aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, a specificmanner in which the manager compares whether the priority of the type ofthe first communications service is higher than the priority of the typeof the second communications service is:

determining whether the second communications service is pre-emptible;and

when the second communications service is pre-emptible, comparingwhether the priority of the type of the first communications service ishigher than the priority of the type of the second communicationsservice.

With reference to the second aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the first possible implementation manner of the second aspectof the embodiments of the present invention, the second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, or the third possible implementation manner of thesecond aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, in a fourthpossible implementation manner of the second aspect of the embodimentsof the present invention, the manager is further configured to send aresource request failure message to the first baseband communicationsprocessor when the priority of the type of the first communicationsservice is lower than or equal to the priority of the type of the secondcommunications service, where the resource request failure messageindicates that the first baseband communications processor is notauthorized to use the RF processor to perform the first communicationsservice.

With reference to the second aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the first possible implementation manner of the second aspectof the embodiments of the present invention, the second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, the third possible implementation manner of thesecond aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, or the fourthpossible implementation manner of the second aspect of the embodimentsof the present invention, in a fifth possible implementation manner ofthe second aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, themanager is further configured to: receive a resource release indicationmessage sent by the first baseband communications processor, and send asecond authorization message to the second baseband communicationsprocessor according to the resource release indication message, wherethe resource release indication message indicates that the permission touse the RF processor has been released by the first basebandcommunications processor, and the second authorization message is usedto authorize the second baseband communications processor to continue touse the RF processor to perform the second communications service.

With reference to the second aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the first possible implementation manner of the second aspectof the embodiments of the present invention, the second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, the third possible implementation manner of thesecond aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, the fourthpossible implementation manner of the second aspect of the embodimentsof the present invention, or the fifth possible implementation manner ofthe second aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, in asixth possible implementation manner of the second aspect of theembodiments of the present invention, the resource request furtherincludes a preemption attribute of the first communications service, andthe preemption attribute indicates whether the first communicationsservice is pre-emptible.

With reference to the second aspect of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the first possible implementation manner of the second aspectof the embodiments of the present invention, the second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, the third possible implementation manner of thesecond aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, the fourthpossible implementation manner of the second aspect of the embodimentsof the present invention, the fifth possible implementation manner ofthe second aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, or thesixth possible implementation manner of the second aspect of theembodiments of the present invention, in a seventh possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect of the embodiments of thepresent invention, the first SIM card supports at least onecommunications network standard, and the second SIM card supports atleast one communications network standard.

In the embodiments of the present invention, after a resource requestsent by a first baseband communications processor is received, whetheran RF processor is authorized for a second baseband communicationsprocessor to use in at least a part of a time period required for usingthe RF processor by the first baseband communications processor isdetermined; if yes, whether a priority of a type of a firstcommunications service that needs to be performed by the first basebandcommunications processor is higher than a priority of a type of a secondcommunications service performed by the second baseband communicationsprocessor is compared; and if yes, an authorization message is sent tothe first baseband communications processor and the second basebandcommunications processor is instructed to stop performing the secondcommunications service. It can be learned that in the embodiments of thepresent invention, a permission to use an RF processor can be properlyallocated for different communications services according to prioritiesof types of communications services on different SIM cards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanyingdrawings required for describing the embodiments. Apparently, theaccompanying drawings in the following description show merely someembodiments of the present invention, and a person of ordinary skill inthe art may still derive other drawings from these accompanying drawingswithout creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a management apparatus forsupporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processor according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of another management apparatusfor supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processor according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of still another managementapparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processoraccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of yet another managementapparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processoraccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of still yet another managementapparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processoraccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a further managementapparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processoraccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a physical layer managementmodule according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a management method for supportingmultiple SIM cards to share an RF processor according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B are a schematic flowchart of another managementmethod for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processoraccording to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a correspondence among an application state of apermission to use an RF processor, a turn-on/turn-off state of an RFswitch module, and a time according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following clearly describes the technical solutions in theembodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Apparently, thedescribed embodiments are merely some but not all of the embodiments ofthe present invention. All other embodiments obtained by a person ofordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the presentinvention without undue experiment shall fall within the protectionscope of the present invention.

The embodiments of the present invention disclose a management methodand apparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RFprocessor, so as to properly allocate, according to a priority of a typeof a communications service, a permission to use an RF processor.Detailed descriptions are provided below separately.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of amanagement apparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RFprocessor according to an embodiment of the present invention, that is,the apparatus supports multi-card multi-standby.

Subsequently, this embodiment of the present invention is described bymainly using a dual card dual standby application scenario as anexample, which is not intended to limit the present invention. Theapparatus shown in FIG. 1 can be applied to a mobile terminal which cansupport multiple SIM cards, for example, in a mobile phone or a tabletcomputer. As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus may include an RF processor101, at least one first baseband communications processor 102, at leastone second baseband communications processor 103, and a manager 104. Thefirst baseband communications processor 102 implements a communicationsservice on a first SIM card when the first baseband communicationsprocessor 102 applied for a permission to use the RF processor 101 andthe second baseband communications processor 103 implements acommunications service on a second SIM card when the second basebandcommunications processor 103 applied for the permission to use the RFprocessor 101.

The first baseband communications processor 102 is configured to send aresource request to the manager 104 when there is a first communicationsservice that needs to be performed on the first SIM card.

The resource request is used to request, in response to the firstcommunications service on the first SIM card, the permission to use theRF processor 101, and the resource request may include a type of thefirst communications service on the first SIM card and a time periodrequired for using the RF processor 101.

The second baseband communications processor 103 is configured toimplement a second communications service on the second SIM card.

The manager 104 is configured to: receive the resource request sent bythe first baseband communications processor 102; determine whether theRF processor 101 is authorized for the second baseband communicationsprocessor 103 in at least a part of the time period to perform thesecond communications service; when it is determined that the RFprocessor is authorized for the second baseband communications processorto perform the second communications service in at least a part of thetime period, compare whether a priority of the type of the firstcommunications service is higher than a priority of a type of the secondcommunications service; and when the priority of the type of the firstcommunications service is higher than the priority of the type of thesecond communications service, send a first authorization message to thefirst baseband communications processor 102, couple the first basebandcommunications processor 102 to the RF processor 101, and instruct thesecond baseband communications processor 103 to stop performing thesecond communications service. The first authorization message is usedto authorize the first baseband communications processor 102 to use theRF processor 101 to perform the first communications service.

The RF processor 101 is configured to provide an RF communications linkfor the first communications service when the first basebandcommunications processor 102 is authorized to use the RF processor 101.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the type of the firstcommunications service and the type of the second communications servicemay be determined according to a quality of service class identifier(QCI) of a communications service. Moreover, after the manager 104determines the type of the first communications service and the type ofthe second communications service, the priority of the type of the firstcommunications service and the priority of the type of the secondcommunications service may be determined separately according to astandard QCI attribute listed in the following Table 1.

TABLE 1 Standard QCI attributes Resource Packet loss QCI Resource typepriority Data delay rate of data Service example 1 Guaranteed bit 2 100ms 10⁻² Voice session 2 rate type 4 150 ms 10⁻³ Video session (areal-time streaming service) 3 3  50 ms 10⁻³ Real-time gaming 4 5 300 ms10⁻⁶ Non-video session (a buffered streaming service) 5 Non-guaranteed 1100 ms 10⁻⁶ IMS signaling 6 bit rate type 6 300 ms 10⁻⁶ Video (abuffered streaming service), TCP-based service (for example, www, ane-mail, chatting, an FTP service, P2P file sharing, and a progressivescan video) 7 7 100 ms 10⁻³ Voice, video (a real-time streamingservice), and an interactive gaming service 8 8 300 ms 10⁻⁶ Video (abuffered 9 9 300 ms 10⁻⁶ streaming service), TCP-based service (forexample, www, an e-mail, chatting, an FTP service, P2P file sharing, anda progressive scan video)

In this embodiment of the present invention, when the manager 104determines that the RF processor 101 is not authorized for another firstbaseband communications processor 102 than the first basebandcommunications processor 102, and for all second baseband communicationsprocessor 103 to use in the time period, the manager 104 may directlysend the first authorization message to the first basebandcommunications processor 102.

In an optional embodiment, the first baseband communications processor102 may include a radio resource control (RRC) module 1021 and aphysical layer management module 1022, and the manager 104 may include aradio control and management (RCM) module 1041. In this case, astructure of the management apparatus for supporting multiple SIM cardsto share an RF processor may be shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a schematicstructural diagram of another management apparatus for supportingmultiple SIM cards to share an RF processor according to an embodimentof the present invention. The RRC module 1021 is responsible formanagement of an RRC layer of the first baseband communicationsprocessor 102, and is mainly responsible for selecting and reselecting acell when the first baseband communications processor 102 does not havea service requirement for a communications service, and for establishinga wireless link when the first baseband communications processor 102 hasa service requirement for a communications service, until execution ofthe communications service is complete. The physical layer managementmodule 1022 is responsible for management of a physical layer of thefirst baseband communications processor 102, and is mainly responsiblefor uplink and downlink synchronization, for maintenance of an unblockedwireless link, and for processing and reception/transmission ofcommunications data. A difference between the RRC module 1021 and thephysical layer management module 1022 is: The RRC module 1021 belongs tolayer 2 or a higher layer of a protocol stack and needs to use awireless link, while the physical layer management module 1022 belongsto layer 1 of the protocol stack and actually carries the wireless link.

The RRC module 1021 is configured to: implement processing of a radioresource control communications protocol for the first SIM card, andsend, to the physical layer management module 1022 when there is thefirst communications service on the first SIM card, a first notificationmessage used to indicate that there is the first communications serviceon the first SIM card.

The physical layer management module 1022 is configured to: receive thefirst notification message sent by the RRC module 1021, and send theresource request to the RCM module 1041 of the manager 104 according tothe first notification message.

The RCM module 1041 is configured to: receive the resource request sentby the physical layer management module 1022; determine whether the RFprocessor 101 is authorized for the second baseband communicationsprocessor 103 to perform the second communications service in at leastthe part of the time period; when the result of the determination isyes, compare whether the priority of the type of the firstcommunications service is higher than the priority of the type of thesecond communications service; and when the priority of the type of thefirst communications service is higher than the priority of the type ofthe second communications service, send the first authorization messageto the physical layer management module 1022 of the first basebandcommunications processor 102, couple the physical layer managementmodule 1022 of the first baseband communications processor 102 to the RFprocessor 101, and instruct the second baseband communications processor103 to stop performing the second communications service.

In this optional embodiment, as an optional implementation manner, thephysical layer management module 1022 may include a primitive receivingmodule 10221, a physical layer radio frequency resource managementmodule 10222, a physical layer task scheduling management module 10223,and an RF switch module 10224. A structure of the physical layermanagement module 1022 may be shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a schematicstructural diagram of a physical layer management module according tothis embodiment of the present invention.

The primitive receiving module 10221 is configured to: receive the firstnotification message which indicates that there is the firstcommunications service and sent by the RRC module 1021 of the firstbaseband communications processor 102; convert the first communicationsservice into a physical layer task; if the converted physical layer taskis a startup task, trigger the physical layer radio frequency resourcemanagement module 10222 to send the resource request to apply, inresponse to the converted physical layer task, for the permission to usethe RF processor 101; and if the converted physical layer task is astopping task, trigger the physical layer radio frequency resourcemanagement module 10222 to release the permission to use the RFprocessor 101.

The physical layer radio frequency resource management module 10222 isconfigured to: send the resource request to the RCM module 1041; afterreceiving the first authorization message from the RCM module 1041,directly operate the RF switch module 10224 to enable the RF processor101; and after the physical layer task is complete, directly operate theRF switch module 10224 to disable the RF processor 101.

The physical layer radio frequency resource management module 10222 maybe further configured to: after the permission to use the RF processor101 is preempted, perform a backup operation on a suspended physicallayer task.

The physical layer task scheduling management module 10223 is configuredto: schedule all physical layer tasks at the physical layer; before aperiodic physical layer task (for example, a periodic demodulationpaging task) starts, trigger the physical layer radio frequency resourcemanagement module 10222 to apply, in response to the periodic physicallayer task, for the permission to use the RF processor 101; use the RFprocessor 101 to schedule the periodic physical layer task after thephysical layer radio frequency resource management module 10222 obtains,in response to the periodic physical layer task, the permission to usethe RF processor 101; and after the periodic physical layer task iscomplete, trigger the physical layer radio frequency resource managementmodule 10222 to release the permission to use the RF processor 101.

In this optional embodiment, as another optional implementation manner,a specific manner in which the RCM module 1041 instructs the secondbaseband communications processor 103 to stop performing the secondcommunications service may be as follows:

The RCM module 1041 sends a preemption indication message to the secondbaseband communications processor 103, so that the second basebandcommunications processor 103 returns a preemption indication responsemessage in response to the preemption indication message after releasingthe permission to use the RF processor 101. The preemption indicationmessage is used to instruct the second baseband communications processor103 to stop performing the second communications service, release thepermission to use the RF processor 101, and perform a backup operationon the second communications service. The preemption indication responsemessage indicates that the permission to use the RF processor 101 hasbeen released by the second baseband communications processor 103. Aspecific manner in which the second baseband communications processor103 performs a backup operation on the second communications service maybe: storing related context such as a state of the second communicationsservice and a configuration parameter of the RF processor 101 whenexecution of the second communications service stops. In this way, thesecond baseband communications processor 103 can quickly resumeperforming the second communications service according to the storedrelated context when re-obtaining, in response to the secondcommunications service, the permission to use the RF processor 101.

In this optional embodiment, when a SIM card has a service requirementfor a communications service, a baseband communications processor of theSIM card sends a notification message, indicating that there is acommunications service on the SIM card, to a physical layer managementmodule of the SIM card. The physical layer management module of the SIMcard converts the communications service on the SIM card into a physicallayer task, and applies, in response to the converted physical layertask, to the RCM module 1041 of the manager 104 for the permission touse the RF processor 101. If the RF processor 101 is not authorized foranother SIM card to use in a time period required for using the RFprocessor 101 by the SIM card, the RCM module 1041 of the manager 104directly authorizes the permission to use the RF processor 101 for thephysical layer management module of the SIM card; if the RF processor101 is authorized for another SIM card to use in at least a part of atime period required for using the RF processor 101 by the SIM card, anda priority of a type of a communications service performed by theanother SIM card by using the RF processor 101 is lower than a priorityof a type of the communications service on the SIM card with the servicerequirement for the communications service, the RCM module 1041 of themanager 104 first withdraws the permission to use the RF processor 101from the another SIM card, and then authorizes, for the SIM card withthe service requirement for the communications service, the permissionto use the RF processor; or if the RF processor 101 is authorized foranother SIM card to use in at least a part of a time period required forusing the RF processor 101 by the SIM card, and a priority of a type ofa communications service performed by the another SIM card by using theRF processor 101 is not lower than a priority of a type of thecommunications service on the SIM card with the service requirement forthe communications service, the RCM module 1041 of the manager 104directly sends a resource request failure message to the physical layermanagement module of the SIM card with the service requirement for thecommunications service. The resource request failure message indicatesthat the permission to use the RF processor 101 is not authorized forthe physical layer management module of the SIM card with the servicerequirement for the communications service.

In this optional embodiment, for example, it is assumed that there isone first SIM card, there is one second SIM card, the first SIM card isSIM1 and supports a communications network standard of a long termevolution (LTE) mode (“L mode” for short), the second SIM card is SIM2and supports a communications network standard of a Global System forMobile Communications (GSM) mode (“G mode” for short), and a physicallayer management module of SIM2 has obtained a permission to use an RFprocessor and is using the RF processor to perform a secondcommunications service. In this case, the management apparatus forsupporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processor may be shown inFIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of still anothermanagement apparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RFprocessor according to an embodiment of the present invention. Theapparatus shown in FIG. 4 implements sharing of the RF processor betweenthe L mode and the G mode. A principle of implementing sharing of the RFprocessor between the L mode and the G mode is as follows:

When there is a service requirement for a first communications service,an RRC module of SIM1 sends, to a primitive receiving module of SIM1, anotification message used to indicate that there is the firstcommunications service on SIM1. After receiving the notificationmessage, the primitive receiving module of SIM1 converts the firstcommunications service into a physical layer task, and triggers aphysical layer radio frequency resource management module of SIM1 tosend, to an RCM module of a manager, a resource request used to obtain apermission to use an RF processor. The RCM module of the managercompares, after receiving the resource request, whether a priority of atype of the first communications service is higher than a priority of atype of the second communications service, and if yes, sends, to thephysical layer radio frequency resource management module of SIM1, anauthorization message used to authorize, for a physical layer managementmodule of SIM1, the permission to use the RF processor, and instructsthe physical layer management module of SIM2 to stop performing thesecond communications service. The physical layer radio frequencyresource management module of SIM1 operates, after receiving theauthorization message sent by the RCM module of the manager, an RFswitch module to enable the RF processor at a time t1 (which is a nextsubframe by default). If the RF processor is used for no physical layertask in the physical layer management module of SIM1 at the time t1, thephysical layer radio frequency resource management module of SIM1operates the RF switch module in a unified manner to enable the RFprocessor, and notifies, at a time t2 (which is a next subframe bydefault) after enabling the RF processor, the primitive receiving modulethat the permission to use the RF processor has been obtained inresponse to the converted physical layer task. The physical layer radiofrequency resource management module operates the RF switch module todisable the RF processor at a time t3 (which is a next subframe bydefault) after execution of the converted physical layer task iscomplete, to release the permission to use the RF processor. If nophysical layer task in the physical layer management module of SIM1needs to use the RF processor at the time t3, the physical layer radiofrequency resource management module operates the RF switch module in aunified manner to disable the RF processor, and sends, to the RCM moduleof the manager at a time t4 (which is a next subframe by default) afterthe RF processor is disabled, a resource release indication message usedto indicate that the permission to use the RF processor has beenreleased, so that the RCM module of the manager withdraws the permissionto use the RF processor after receiving the resource release indicationmessage. If the converted physical layer task is preempted in anexecution process, the physical layer radio frequency resourcemanagement module of SIM1 performs a backup operation on the convertedphysical layer task at a time t5 (which includes two subframes bydefault) after a preemption indication message sent by the RCM module ofthe manager is received and before preemption starts, and operates theRF switch module to disable the RF processor at a time t6 (whichincludes one subframe by default) before the preemption starts. Thebackup operation includes storing related context such as a currentstate of the converted physical layer task and a configuration parameterof the RF processor. Moreover, the physical layer radio frequencyresource management module returns a preemption indication responsemessage to the RCM module of the manager at a subframe at which thepreemption starts. If a resumption indication message sent by the RCMmodule of the manager is received, the physical layer radio frequencyresource management module of SIM1 operates the RF switch module toenable the RF processor at a time t7 (which includes one subframe bydefault) after the resumption indication message is received, andresumes, according to the related context previously stored during thebackup operation, performing the previously preempted physical layertask at a time t8 (which includes two subframes by default) after theresumption indication message is received.

In a process of sending the resource request to the manager when thereis the first communications service on SIM1, performing the firstcommunications service after obtaining the permission to use the RFprocessor, and releasing the permission to use the RF processor afterexecution of the first communications service is complete, for SIM1, acorrespondence among an application state of the RF processor, aturn-on/turn-off state of the RF switch module, and a time may be shownin FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a diagram of a correspondence among anapplication state of a permission to use an RF processor, aturn-on/turn-off state of an RF switch module, and a time. As shown inFIG. 10, when there is no first communications service on SIM1, a firstbaseband communications processor of SIM1 does not apply for apermission to use an RF processor. When there is a first communicationsservice on SIM1, a physical layer radio frequency resource managementmodule of a first baseband communications processor of SIM1 sends aresource request to an RCM module of a manager, and obtains a permissionto use the RF processor after receiving an authorization messagereturned by the RCM module. The RF switch module is always in a turn-offstate before execution of the first communications service starts, andthe state of the RF switch module changes from the turn-off state to aturn-on state when the execution of the first communications servicestarts. The physical layer radio frequency resource management module ofthe first baseband communications processor of SIM1 releases thepermission to use the RF processor after the execution of the firstcommunications service is complete, and the state of the RF switchmodule changes from the turn-on state to the turn-off state.

In another optional embodiment, the first baseband communicationsprocessor 102 may include an RRC module 1023 and a physical layermanagement module 1024, and the manager 104 may include a radio resourcemanagement (RRM) module 1042 and an RCM module 1043. The resourcerequest is sent by the RRC module 1023 to the RRM module 1042 of themanager 104. In this case, a structure of the management apparatus forsupporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processor may be shown inFIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of yet anothermanagement apparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RFprocessor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The RRC module 1023 is configured to: implement processing of a radioresource control communications protocol for the first SIM card, andsend the resource request to the RRM module 1042 of the manager 104 whenthere is the first communications service on the first SIM card.

The physical layer management module 1024 is configured to implementprocessing of a physical layer communications protocol for the first SIMcard.

The RRM module 1042 is configured to: receive the resource request sentby the RRC module 1023 of the first baseband communications processor102; determine whether the RF processor 101 is authorized for the secondbaseband communications processor 103 to perform the secondcommunications service in at least the part of the time period; when theresult of the determination is yes, compare whether the priority of thetype of the first communications service is higher than the priority ofthe type of the second communications service; and when the priority ofthe type of the first communications service is higher than the priorityof the type of the second communications service, send the firstauthorization message to the RCM module 1043.

The RCM module 1043 is configured to: receive the first authorizationmessage sent by the RRM module 1042, send the first authorizationmessage to the physical layer management module 1024 of the firstbaseband communications processor 102, couple the physical layermanagement module 1024 of the first baseband communications processor102 to the RF processor 101, and instruct the second basebandcommunications processor 103 to stop performing the secondcommunications service.

In the another optional embodiment, as an optional implementationmanner, a specific manner in which the RCM module 1043 instructs thesecond baseband communications processor 103 to stop performing thesecond communications service may be as follows:

The RCM module 1043 sends a preemption indication message to the secondbaseband communications processor 103, so that the second basebandcommunications processor 103 returns a preemption indication responsemessage in response to the preemption indication message after releasingthe permission to use the RF processor 101. The preemption indicationmessage is used to instruct the second baseband communications processor103 to stop performing the second communications service, release thepermission to use the RF processor 101, and perform a backup operationon the second communications service. The preemption indication responsemessage indicates that the permission to use the RF processor 101 hasbeen released by the second baseband communications processor 103. Aspecific manner in which the second baseband communications processor103 performs a backup operation on the second communications service maybe: storing related context such as a state of the second communicationsservice and a configuration parameter of the RF processor 101 whenexecution of the second communications service stops.

In some embodiments, a specific manner in which the manager 104 compareswhether the priority of the type of the first communications service ishigher than the priority of the type of the second communicationsservice may be:

determining whether the second communications service is pre-emptible;and

when the second communications service is pre-emptible, comparingwhether the priority of the type of the first communications service ishigher than the priority of the type of the second communicationsservice.

In some embodiments, the manager 104 may be further configured to send aresource request failure message to the first baseband communicationsprocessor 102 when the priority of the type of the first communicationsservice is lower than or equal to the priority of the type of the secondcommunications service, and the resource request failure messageindicates that the first baseband communications processor 102 is notauthorized to use the RF processor 101 to perform the firstcommunications service.

In some embodiments, the first baseband communications processor 102 maybe further configured to send a resource release indication message tothe manager 104 after execution of the first communications service iscomplete, and the resource release indication message indicates that thepermission to use the RF processor 101 has been released by the firstbaseband communications processor 102. The manager 104 may be furtherconfigured to: receive the resource release indication message sent bythe first baseband communications processor 102, return a resourcerelease indication confirmation message to the first basebandcommunications processor 102, and send a second authorization message tothe second baseband communications processor 103. The secondauthorization message is used to authorize the second basebandcommunications processor 103 to continue to use the RF processor 101 toperform the second communications service. The second basebandcommunications processor 103 may be further configured to: receive thesecond authorization message sent by the manager 104 and continues toperform the second communications service. Further, in some embodiments,the second baseband communications processor 103 may specificallycontinue to perform the second communications service according to therelated context stored when the execution of the second communicationsservice stops.

In some embodiments, the resource request may further include apreemption attribute of the first communications service, and thepreemption attribute indicates whether the first communications serviceis pre-emptible.

In some embodiments, each first SIM card supports at least onecommunications network standard, and each second SIM card supports atleast one communications network standard. Different SIM cards maysupport at least one same communications network standard, or maysupport completely different communications network standards, which isnot limited in this embodiment of the present invention. Thecommunications network standard supported by each SIM card may includeany one or a combination of the following: a GSM mode (“G mode” forshort), a LTE mode (“L mode” for short), a W-CDMA mode (“W mode” forshort), a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mode (“C mode” forshort), a Time Division Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) mode, afrequency-division duplex Long Term Evolution (FDD-LTE) mode, and a TimeDivision-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) mode (“Tmode” for short), which is not limited in this embodiment of the presentinvention.

It can be learned that in this embodiment of the present invention, apermission to use an RF processor can be properly allocated according toa priority of a type of a communications service, thereby improvingflexibility of allocating the permission to use the RF processor.

Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of stillyet another management apparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards toshare an RF processor according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The apparatus shown in FIG. 5 may be applied to a mobileterminal which can support three SIM cards (SIM1, SIM2, and SIM3), andimplement sharing of an RF processor among an L mode, a T mode, a Cmode, a W mode, and a G mode. As shown in FIG. 5, the apparatus mayinclude a baseband communications processor of SIM1, a basebandcommunications processor of SIM2, a baseband communications processor ofSIM3, a manager, and a first RF processor. SIM1 supports threecommunications network standards of the W mode, the T mode, and the Cmode; SIM2 supports a communications network standard of the L mode;SIM3 supports a communications network standard of the G mode. Thebaseband communications processor of SIM1 includes an RRC module ofSIM1, a T-mode physical layer management module (T-physical layermanagement module), a C-mode physical layer management module(C-physical layer management module), and a W-mode physical layermanagement module (C-physical layer management module). The basebandcommunications processor of SIM2 may include an RRC module of SIM2 andan L-mode physical layer management module (L-physical layer managementmodule). The baseband communications processor of SIM3 may include anRRC module of SIM3 and a G-mode physical layer management module(G-physical layer management module). The manager may include an RCMmodule. A principle that the apparatus in FIG. 5 implements thatmultiple SIM cards are supported to share an RF processor is as follows:

An RRC module of a SIM card with a service requirement for acommunications service sends, to a corresponding physical layermanagement module according to a communications network standard towhich the communications service belongs, a notification message used toindicate that there is a communications service belonging to a specificcommunications network standard on the SIM card. The correspondingphysical layer management module sends, to the RCM module of the manageraccording to the notification message, a resource request used to applyfor a permission to use the first RF processor. The RCM module of themanager authorizes, according to a priority of a type of thecommunications service included in the received resource request, thepermission to use the first RF processor to a physical layer managementmodule corresponding to a type, of the highest priority, of acommunications service.

In some embodiments, on a basis of the structure of the apparatus shownin FIG. 5, the management apparatus for supporting multiple SIM cards toshare an RF processor may further include a second RF processor. In thiscase, a structure of the management apparatus for supporting multipleSIM cards to share an RF processor may be shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is aschematic structural diagram of a further management apparatus forsupporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processor according to anembodiment of the present invention. The second RF processor isconfigured to receive a downlink signal corresponding to a downlinkcommunications service when a first RF processor is configured toperform a communications service belonging to a specific communicationsnetwork standard and when another communications network standard isrequired for performing the downlink communications service, forexample, a demodulation paging message.

It can be learned that in this embodiment of the present invention, anRF processor can be shared among all modes, and a permission to use theRF processor can also be properly allocated according to a priority of atype of a communications service.

Referring to FIG. 8, FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a managementmethod for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processoraccording to an embodiment of the present invention. The method shown inFIG. 8 may be implemented by a manager in the foregoing embodiments.That is, the method shown in FIG. 8 may be applied to a mobile terminalwhich can support multiple SIM cards. As shown in FIG. 8, the managementmethod for supporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processor mayinclude the following steps.

S801: Receive a resource request sent by a first baseband communicationsprocessor.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first basebandcommunications processor is configured to implement a firstcommunications service on a first SIM card, the resource request is usedto request, in response to the first communications service on the firstSIM card, a permission to use the RF processor, and the resource requestmay include a type of the first communications service on the first SIMcard and a time period required for using the RF processor.

S802: Determine whether the RF processor is authorized for a secondbaseband communications processor to perform a second communicationsservice on a second SIM card in at least a part of a time period.

In this embodiment of the present invention, when a result of thedetermination in step S802 is yes, step S803 is performed; or when aresult of the determination in step S802 is no, the first basebandcommunications processor may be directly authorized to use the RFprocessor to perform the first communications service.

S803: Compare whether a priority of a type of a first communicationsservice is higher than a priority of a type of the second communicationsservice.

In this embodiment of the present invention, when the priority of thetype of the first communications service is higher than the priority ofa type of the second communications service, step S804 is performed; orwhen the priority of the type of the first communications service islower than or equal to the priority of the type of the secondcommunications service, this procedure may end, or a resource requestfailure message may be sent to the first baseband communicationsprocessor. The resource request failure message indicates that the firstbaseband communications processor is not authorized to use the RFprocessor to perform the first communications service.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the type of the firstcommunications service and the type of the second communications servicemay be determined according to a QCI of a communications service. Afterthe type of the first communications service and the type of the secondcommunications service are determined, the priority of the type of thefirst communications service and the priority of the type of the secondcommunications service may be determined separately according to astandard QCI attribute listed in Table 1.

S804: Send a first authorization message to the first basebandcommunications processor and instruct the second baseband communicationsprocessor to stop performing the second communications service.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first authorizationmessage is used to authorize the first baseband communications processorto use the RF processor to perform the first communications service.

In an optional embodiment, the resource request may be sent from aphysical layer of the first baseband communications processor. In thiscase, the method according to this embodiment of the present inventionis specifically implemented by an RCM module of the manager.

In another optional embodiment, the resource request may be sent from anRRC layer of the first baseband communications processor. In this case,the method according to this embodiment of the present invention isspecifically implemented by an RRM module of the manager. In thisoptional embodiment, the sending a first authorization message to thefirst baseband communications processor may include:

sending the first authorization message to an RCM module of the manager,so that the RCM module of the manager sends the first authorizationmessage to the first baseband communications processor.

In still another optional embodiment, the comparing whether a priorityof a type of a first communications service is higher than a priority ofa type of the second communications service may include:

determining whether the second communications service is pre-emptible;and

when the second communications service is pre-emptible, comparingwhether the priority of the type of the first communications service ishigher than the priority of the type of the second communicationsservice.

In yet another optional embodiment, after step S804 is executed, thefollowing operations may be further executed:

receiving a resource release indication message sent by the firstbaseband communications processor, where the resource release indicationmessage indicates that the permission to use the RF processor has beenreleased by the first baseband communications processor; and

sending a second authorization message to the second basebandcommunications processor according to the resource release indicationmessage, where the second authorization message is used to authorize thesecond baseband communications processor to continue to use the RFprocessor to perform the second communications service.

In some embodiments, the resource request may further include apreemption attribute of the first communications service, and thepreemption attribute indicates whether the first communications serviceis pre-emptible.

In some embodiments, the first SIM card may support at least onecommunications network standard, and the second SIM card may support atleast one communications network standard. The first SIM card and thesecond SIM card may support at least one same communications networkstandard, or may support completely different communications networkstandards, which is not limited in this embodiment of the presentinvention.

In this embodiment of the present invention, after a resource requestsent by a first baseband communications processor is received, whetheran RF processor is authorized for a second baseband communicationsprocessor to perform a second communications service in at least a partof a time period required for using the RF processor by the firstbaseband communications processor is determined; if yes, whether apriority of a type of a first communications service that needs to beperformed by the first baseband communications processor is higher thana priority of a type of the second communications service performed bythe second baseband communications processor is compared; and if yes, anauthorization message is sent to the first baseband communicationsprocessor and the second baseband communications processor is instructedto stop performing the second communications service. It can be learnedthat in this embodiment of the present invention, a permission to use anRF processor can be properly allocated according to a priority of a typeof a communications service.

It can be understood that each part of the apparatus provided in thisembodiment of the present invention may include a large quantity oftransistors to form a first baseband communications processor 102, asecond baseband communications processor 103, an RF processor 101, and amanager 104. The RF processor 101 may be a radio frequency integratedcircuit (RFIC), the first baseband communications processor 102 and thesecond baseband communications processor 103 may be integrated into onesystem on chip (SoC), and the manager 104 may be also integrated intothe SOC.

Referring to FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B, FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B are a schematicflowchart of another management method for supporting multiple SIM cardsto share an RF processor according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The method shown in FIG. 9A and FIG.

9B is implemented by an RCM module of a manager, a first basebandcommunications processor, and a second baseband communications processortogether. The first baseband communications processor is configured toimplement processing of a radio resource control communications protocolfor a first SIM card, and the second baseband communications processoris configured to implement processing of a radio resource controlcommunications protocol for a second SIM card. As shown in FIG. 9A andFIG. 9B, the management method for supporting multiple SIM cards toshare an RF processor may include the following steps.

S901: The first baseband communications processor sends a resourcerequest to the RCM module when there is a first communications serviceon the first SIM card.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the resource request isused to request, in response to the first communications service, apermission to use the RF processor, and the resource request may includea type of the first communications service and a time period requiredfor using the RF processor. The resource request is specifically sent bya physical layer management module of the first baseband communicationsprocessor to the RCM module when there is the first communicationsservice on the first SIM card, and the resource request may beID_PHY_RCM_TASK_APPLY_REQ.

S902: After receiving the resource request, the RCM module determineswhether the RF processor is authorized for the second basebandcommunications processor to perform a second communications service onthe second SIM card in at least a part of a time period required forusing the RF processor by the first communications service.

S903: When the RF processor is authorized to perform the secondcommunications service for the second baseband communications processorin at least the part of the time period, the RCM module determineswhether the second communications service is pre-emptible.

S904: When the second communications service is pre-emptible, the RCMmodule compares whether a priority of a type of the first communicationsservice is higher than a priority of a type of the second communicationsservice.

S905: The RCM module sends a preemption indication message to the secondbaseband communications processor when the priority of the type of thefirst communications service is higher than the priority of the type ofthe second communications service.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the preemption indicationmessage is used to instruct the second baseband communications processorto stop performing the second communications service, release thepermission to use the RF processor, and perform a backup operation onthe second communications service. The preemption indication message isspecifically sent by the RCM module to a physical layer managementmodule of the second baseband communications processor, and thepreemption indication message may be ID_RCM_PHY_TASK_PREEMPT_IND.

S906: The second baseband communications processor stops performing thesecond communications service, releases a permission to use the RFprocessor, and performs a backup operation on the second communicationsservice according to the preemption indication message.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the backup operationperformed by the second baseband communications processor on the secondcommunications service may include storing related context such as astate of the second communications service and a configuration parameterof the RF processor when execution of the second communications servicestops.

S907: The second baseband communications processor sends a preemptionindication response message to the RCM module.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the preemption indicationresponse message indicates that the permission to use the RF processorhas been released by the second baseband communications processor, thepreemption indication response message is specifically sent by thephysical layer management module of the second baseband communicationsprocessor to the RCM module, and the preemption indication responsemessage may be ID_PHY_RCM_TASK_PREEMPT_ACK.

S908: The RCM module sends a first authorization message to the firstbaseband communications processor after receiving the preemptionindication response message.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first authorizationmessage is used to authorize the first baseband communications processorto use the RF processor to perform the first communications service, thefirst authorization message is sent by the RCM module to the physicallayer management module of the first baseband communications processorin response to the resource request, and the first authorization messagemay be ID_RCM_PHY_TASK_APPLY_CFN.

S909: The first baseband communications processor uses the RF processorto perform the first communications service after receiving the firstauthorization message, and releases the permission to use the RFprocessor after execution of the first communications service iscomplete.

S910: The first baseband communications processor sends a resourcerelease indication message to the RCM module.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the resource releaseindication message indicates that the permission to use the RF processorhas been released by the first baseband communications processor, theresource release indication message is specifically sent by the physicallayer management module of the first baseband communications processorto the RCM module, and the resource release indication message may beID_PHY_RCM_TASK_RELEASE_REQ.

S911: The RCM module sends a resource release indication confirmationmessage to the first baseband communications processor after receivingthe resource release indication message.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the resource releaseindication confirmation message is sent by the RCM module to thephysical layer management module of the first baseband communicationsprocessor in response to the resource release indication message, andthe resource release indication confirmation message may beID_RCM_PHY_TASK_RELEASE_CFN.

S912: The RCM module sends a resumption indication message to the secondbaseband communications processor.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the resumption indicationmessage is used to instruct the second baseband communications processorto resume performing the second communications service, the resumptionindication message is sent by the RCM module to the physical layermanagement module of the second baseband communications processor, andthe resumption indication message may be ID_PHY_RCM_TASK_RESUME_IND.

S913: The second baseband communications processor sends, to the RCMmodule, a resumption indication acknowledgement message in response tothe resumption indication message.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the resumption indicationacknowledgement message is used to confirm that the execution of thesecond communications service needs to be resumed, the resumptionindication acknowledgement message is sent by the physical layermanagement module of the second baseband communications processor to theRCM module, and the resumption indication acknowledgement message may beID_PHY_RCM_TASK_RESUME_ACK.

S914: The RCM module sends a second authorization message to the secondbaseband communications processor according to the resumption indicationacknowledgement message.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the second authorizationmessage is used to authorize the second baseband communicationsprocessor to continue to use the RF processor to perform the secondcommunications service, the second authorization message is sent by theRCM module to the physical layer management module of the secondbaseband communications processor, and the second authorization messagemay be ID_RCM_PHY_TASK_ASSING_IND.

S915: The second baseband communications processor sends, to the RCMmodule, an authorization acknowledgement message in response to thesecond authorization message.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the authorizationacknowledgement message is sent by the physical layer management moduleof the second baseband communications processor to the RCM module, andthe authorization acknowledgement message may beID_PHY_RCM_TASK_ASSING_ACK.

S916: After receiving the second authorization message, the secondbaseband communications processor resumes performing the secondcommunications service according to context stored during the backupoperation.

It can be learned that in this embodiment of the present invention,sharing of an RF processor can be implemented, and a permission to usethe RF processor can be properly allocated according to a preemptionattribute of a communications service and a priority of thecommunications service.

It should be noted that, in the foregoing embodiments, the descriptionof each embodiment has respective focuses. For a part that is notdescribed in detail in an embodiment, reference may be made to relateddescriptions in other embodiments. In addition, a person skilled in theart should also appreciate that all the embodiments described in thespecification are examples of embodiments, and the related actions andmodules are not necessarily mandatory to the present invention.

A sequence of the steps of the method in the embodiments of the presentinvention may be adjusted, and certain steps may also be merged orremoved according to an actual need.

A sequence of the modules of the apparatus in the embodiments of thepresent invention may be adjusted, and may also be merged or removedaccording to an actual need.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or some ofthe steps of the methods in the embodiments may be implemented by aprogram instructing relevant hardware, such as a processor. The programmay be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The storage mediummay include: a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a random accessmemory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

The foregoing describes in detail a management method and apparatus forsupporting multiple SIM cards to share an RF processor provided in theembodiments of the present invention. In this specification, specificexamples are used to describe the principle and implementation mannersof the present invention, and the description of the embodiments is onlyintended to help understand the method and core idea of the presentinvention. Meanwhile, a person of ordinary skill in the art may, basedon the idea of the present invention, make modifications with respect tothe specific implementation manners and the application scope.Therefore, the content of this specification shall not be construed as alimitation to the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A management method for supporting multiple SIMcards to share an radio frequency (RF) processor, wherein the methodcomprises: receiving a resource request sent by a first basebandcommunications processor, wherein the first baseband communicationsprocessor is configured to implement a first communications service on afirst SIM card, the resource request is used to request, in response tothe first communications service, a permission to use the RF processor,and the resource request comprises a type of the first communicationsservice and a time period required for using the RF processor;determining whether the RF processor is authorized to perform a secondcommunications service on a second SIM card for a second basebandcommunications processor in at least a part of the time period; when theRF processor is authorized to perform the second communications servicefor the second baseband communications processor in at least the part ofthe time period, comparing whether a priority of the type of the firstcommunications service is higher than a priority of a type of the secondcommunications service; and when the priority of the type of the firstcommunications service is higher than the priority of the type of thesecond communications service, sending a first authorization message tothe first baseband communications processor and instructing the secondbaseband communications processor to stop performing the secondcommunications service, wherein the first authorization message is usedto authorize the first baseband communications processor to use the RFprocessor to perform the first communications service.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the resource request is sent from aphysical layer of the first baseband communications processor.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the resource request is sent from aradio resource control (RRC) layer of the first baseband communicationsprocessor; and sending a first authorization message to the firstbaseband communications processor comprises: sending the firstauthorization message to a radio control and management (RCM) module, toenable the RCM module to send the first authorization message to thefirst baseband communications processor.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the comparing whether a priority of the type of thefirst communications service is higher than a priority of a type of thesecond communications service comprises: determining whether the secondcommunications service is pre-emptible; and when the secondcommunications service is pre-emptible, comparing whether the priorityof the type of the first communications service is higher than thepriority of the type of the second communications service.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: when thepriority of the type of the first communications service is lower thanor equal to the priority of the type of the second communicationsservice, sending a resource request failure message to the firstbaseband communications processor, wherein the resource request failuremessage indicates that the first baseband communications processor isnot authorized to use the RF processor to perform the firstcommunications service.
 6. The method according to claim 1, whereinafter the sending a first authorization message to the first basebandcommunications processor and instructing the second basebandcommunications processor to stop performing the second communicationsservice, the method further comprises: receiving a resource releaseindication message sent by the first baseband communications processor,wherein the resource release indication message indicates that thepermission to use the RF processor has been released by the firstbaseband communications processor; and sending a second authorizationmessage to the second baseband communications processor according to theresource release indication message, wherein the second authorizationmessage is used to authorize the second baseband communicationsprocessor to continue to use the RF processor to perform the secondcommunications service.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein theresource request further comprises a preemption attribute of the firstcommunications service, and the preemption attribute indicates whetherthe first communications service is pre-emptible.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the first SIM card supports at least onecommunications network standard, and the second SIM card supports atleast one communications network standard.
 9. A management apparatus forsupporting multiple SIM cards to share an radio frequency (RF)processor, wherein the apparatus comprises the RF processor, a firstbaseband communications processor, a second baseband communicationsprocessor, and a manager, wherein the first baseband communicationsprocessor is configured to send a resource request to the manager whenthere is a first communications service that needs to be performed on afirst SIM card, wherein the resource request is used to request, inresponse to the first communications service, a permission to use the RFprocessor, and the resource request comprises a type of the firstcommunications service and a time period required for using the RFprocessor; the second baseband communications processor is configured toimplement a second communications service on a second SIM card; themanager is configured to: receive the resource request; determinewhether the RF processor is authorized for the second basebandcommunications processor to perform the second communications service inat least a part of the time period; when it is determined that the RFprocessor is authorized for the second baseband communications processorto perform the second communications service in at least a part of thetime period, compare whether a priority of the type of the firstcommunications service is higher than a priority of a type of the secondcommunications service; and when the priority of the type of the firstcommunications service is higher than the priority of the type of thesecond communications service, send a first authorization message to thefirst baseband communications processor, couple the first basebandcommunications processor to the RF processor, and instruct the secondbaseband communications processor to stop performing the secondcommunications service, wherein the first authorization message is usedto authorize the first baseband communications processor to use the RFprocessor to perform the first communications service; and the RFprocessor is configured to provide an RF communications link for thefirst communications service when the first baseband communicationsprocessor is authorized to use the RF processor.
 10. The apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein the first baseband communicationsprocessor comprises an RRC module and a physical layer managementmodule, the resource request is sent by the physical layer managementmodule, and the manager comprises an RCM module, wherein the RRC moduleis configured to: implement processing of a radio resource controlcommunications protocol for the first SIM card, and send, to thephysical layer management module when there is the first communicationsservice on the first SIM card, a first notification message used toindicate that there is the first communications service on the first SIMcard; the physical layer management module is configured to: implementprocessing of a physical layer communications protocol for the first SIMcard, receive the first notification message, and send the resourcerequest to the RCM module; and the RCM module is configured to: receivethe resource request; determine whether the RF processor is authorizedfor the second baseband communications processor to perform the secondcommunications service in at least the part of the time period; when itis determined that the RF processor is authorized for the secondbaseband communications processor to perform the second communicationsservice in at least the part of the time period, compare whether thepriority of the type of the first communications service is higher thanthe priority of the type of the second communications service; and whenthe priority of the type of the first communications service is higherthan the priority of the type of the second communications service, sendthe first authorization message to the first baseband communicationsprocessor, couple the first baseband communications processor to the RFprocessor, and instruct the second baseband communications processor tostop performing the second communications service.
 11. The apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein the first baseband communicationsprocessor comprises an RRC module and a physical layer managementmodule, the resource request is sent by the RRC module, and the managercomprises a radio resource management RRM module and an RCM module,wherein the RRC module is configured to: implement processing of a radioresource control communications protocol for the first SIM card, andsend the resource request to the RRM module when there is the firstcommunications service on the first SIM card; the physical layermanagement module is configured to implement processing of a physicallayer communications protocol for the first SIM card; the RRM module isconfigured to: receive the resource request; determine whether the RFprocessor is authorized for the second baseband communications processorto perform the second communications service in at least the part of thetime period; when the result of the determination is yes, comparewhether the priority of the type of the first communications service ishigher than the priority of the type of the second communicationsservice; and when the priority of the type of the first communicationsservice is higher than the priority of the type of the secondcommunications service, send the first authorization message to the RCMmodule; and the RCM module is configured to: receive the firstauthorization message sent by the RRM module, send the firstauthorization message to the first baseband communications processor,couple the first baseband communications processor to the RF processor,and instruct the second baseband communications processor to stopperforming the second communications service.
 12. The apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein a specific manner in which the managercompares whether the priority of the type of the first communicationsservice is higher than the priority of the type of the secondcommunications service is: determining whether the second communicationsservice is pre-emptible; and when the second communications service ispre-emptible, comparing whether the priority of the type of the firstcommunications service is higher than the priority of the type of thesecond communications service.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 9,wherein the manager is further configured to send a resource requestfailure message to the first baseband communications processor when thepriority of the type of the first communications service is lower thanor equal to the priority of the type of the second communicationsservice, wherein the resource request failure message indicates that thefirst baseband communications processor is not authorized to use the RFprocessor to perform the first communications service.
 14. The apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein the manager is further configured to:receive a resource release indication message sent by the first basebandcommunications processor, and send a second authorization message to thesecond baseband communications processor according to the resourcerelease indication message, wherein the resource release indicationmessage indicates that the permission to use the RF processor has beenreleased by the first baseband communications processor, and the secondauthorization message is used to authorize the second basebandcommunications processor to continue to use the RF processor to performthe second communications service.
 15. The apparatus according to claim9, wherein the resource request further comprises a preemption attributeof the first communications service, and the preemption attributeindicates whether the first communications service is pre-emptible. 16.The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the first SIM card supportsat least one communications network standard, and the second SIM cardsupports at least one communications network standard.